In recent years, Americans and people all over the world have come to realize that traditional energy sources are limited. Energy sources in the form of gas, oil and coal have continued to increase in price and this increase in price has been passed on to the consumer.
As energy costs have risen, the cost of heating and cooling residential dwellings and other structures have increased accordingly. For example, in the last five years the cost of electricity that is utilized in some residential dwellings has increased as much as 40% in some areas. In the United States, people have been encouraged to reduce their energy use and to conserve as much energy as possible. In this regard, the area of heating and cooling residential dwellings and other structures has gained substantial attention. For example, home owners have been encouraged and advised to insulate their homes well and to install storm doors and windows in order to conserve more energy. While these steps are important to our national energy policy, they do not directly reduce the actual cost of energy being utilized.
There has been and continues to be a need to discover and utilize available natural sources of energy. In the past few years, a great deal of research has been directed in the area of solar energy utilization. It is agreed that solar energy is a source that offers an abundance of energy but there still remains the problem of being able to harness and utilize solar energy efficiently and practically. Commercial solar energy sources for residential dwellings and other structures are presently available, but these systems are expensive and in many cases their economic feasibility is still in question.